Caring for Fresh Flowers

There is nothing quite like beautifully arranged fresh cut flowers to brighten up your home. Flowers are also hugely sentimental as they are often used to mark anniversaries and other special occasions. Wanting your flowers to last as long as possible is perfectly normal, most will last between one to two weeks, caring for fresh cut flowers is pretty easy. Let us show you how.

Put them in Water

It doesn’t take long for flowers to start dehydrating, so get them into water as soon as you can. You want to use lukewarm water it will rehydrate your flowers and encourage the blooms to open. You will also want to change the water at least every two days, once the flowers are hydrated you can start using cold water rather than warm. Cool water will help keep your flowers in good shape.

Use the Flower Preservatives

When you get flowers from a florist they will include a packet of flower preservatives. This packet contains antibacterial additives to keep bacteria from growing in the water, bacteria will kill your flowers by preventing them from absorbing nutrients from the water. The packet also has some food for the flowers that will help preserve them longer and encourage them to open up. If you got the flowers from your garden then put a drop or two of chlorine bleach into the water to kill bacteria.

Trim the Stems

You will want to use a good pair of scissors or a sharp knife and you want to cut about an inch off the bottom of your stems. You don’t want to crush the stems and you want the cut to be on an angle to allow the flowers better access to water. Once they have been cut them put them into water right away. You will want to do this each time that you change the water. Here is exactly how to do it.

Keep them Cool

Your flower need to be kept in a cool place and out of direct sunlight or away from a heat source. Don’t leave your flowers in a hot car when you are bringing them home. Florist vans are refrigerated and they do that to help preserve the flowers. If you go to a flower shop most flowers are in a fridge, at home that isn’t possible but you can put them in the fridge overnight to help them last longer.

Just follow these simple tips and your flowers can last up to two weeks, you may want to dry them after that if they have sentimental value to you.